DrFishbone
SCCoA Member
My rebuilt (much pain involved) SC engine is in it's break-in stages right now - using cheap 5w-30 oil for the first 100 miles. I installed all new bearings, checked the timing cover for excessive wear, installed new 94-95 Melling oil pump, primed the engine (although I put assembly lube on everything beforehand) So far, I've driven it about 50 miles and have noticed that it after warming up to around 210°F - which I don't like - the oil pressure at idle (around 750rpm) is very low. My Autometer gauge says around 13psi! Around 1500rpm cruising down the street it's around 25psi and around 2000rpm it's 40psi. The low number at idle is especially disturbing to me with a totally rebuilt engine and stock-weight oil. I need someone to comfort me. Upon startup, while the oil is near ambient temps, the pressure will sit at and stay at 60 psi, only when the engine temp gets rather warm does it drop so low. I'm thiniking of using something like 10w-40 for the next 400 miles of break-in to help keep the pressure up. Any comments / experience / input on a similiar situation anyone has had? Experienced advice is very welcome!
My old engine with the same Autometer gauge & sender would read 60psi at startup, then at the lowest would read 20psi at idle but that motor had 265k miles on it! If nothing else....are these numbers safe? I'm sure that they are minimally safe at best.
My old engine with the same Autometer gauge & sender would read 60psi at startup, then at the lowest would read 20psi at idle but that motor had 265k miles on it! If nothing else....are these numbers safe? I'm sure that they are minimally safe at best.